Tag: welfare

Biden Admin Makes It Easier for Illegal Migrants on Welfare to Stay in America

Arizona Sun Times Staff

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will make it easier for certain illegal migrants benefiting from certain welfare programs to stay in the country beginning Dec. 23.

The “Public Charge” rule, which applies to noncitizens “likely at any time to become a public charge,” will no longer consider certain nutrition, health and housing benefits for inadmissibility, according to DHS. Noncitizens who are considered a “public charge” face potential inadmissibility and denial of Green Card status.

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Arizona Attorney General Brnovich Argues at Supreme Court Defending Public Charge Rule Regarding Green Cards and Welfare

Rachel Alexander

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich led a lawsuit with 12 other attorneys general against the Biden administration for dropping the Public Charge rule implemented in 2018 underneath the Trump administration, which ended up at the Supreme Court on Wednesday for oral arguments. The Public Charge rule made noncitizens ineligible for green cards if they are receiving public assistance, which was U.S. policy for over 100 years. 

“The United States is indeed the land of the free and of industrious immigrants, but it is not a welfare state,” said Brnovich in a statement about Arizona v. City and County of San Francisco. “The Biden Administration has once again caved to far-left groups attempting to erase a common-sense law that we’ve had in various forms for more than 100 years.”

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Missouri Considers Pension Changes to Solve Teacher Shortage

The Center Square
Man standing in front of a room, giving a lecture with a presentation

Legislators are considering changes to Missouri’s teacher and non-certified school employee pension plans to alleviate pandemic-related teacher and staff shortages.

HB2114, sponsored by Rep. Rusty Black, R-Chillicothe, will reduce restrictions on pensions if a retired public school teacher returns to the classroom or to a non-teaching position in a public school. The legislation also increases from two to four years the length of time a retired teacher or retired non-certified public school employee can work while still receiving their pension.

During testimony before the House pensions committee, Rep. Black, the committee vice chairman, said similar legislation was passed by the House and died in the Senate last year as the legislative session ended in May. He said the legislation simplifies and improves the amount retirees can earn before their pensions are restricted.

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Arizonans Fired over COVID Vaccination Might Not Get Unemployment

The Center Square

Arizona’s largest hospital system and others have set a Monday deadline for their employees to be vaccinated or face termination, but some employees who already have been fired for refusing a vaccine are learning they aren’t eligible for unemployment benefits. 

Banner Health, ValleyWise Health, HonorHealth and Dignity Health are set to require COVID-19 vaccinations Monday. Others have set deadlines that already have passed.

Mayo Clinic, a Minnesota-based hospital nonprofit with two facilities in the valley, announced in July it would require all employees to be vaccinated by Sept. 17. In a release, it said staff who declined to be vaccinated for COVID-19 “must complete education modules and will be required to wear masks and socially distance when on campus.”

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Report: Democrats’ Stalled Budget Bill Includes $8 Billion a Year for Illegal Immigrant Parents

Arizona Sun Times Staff

Democrats’ stalled budget bill includes $8 billion a year for 10 years for illegal immigrant parents, the Center for Immigration Studies announced on Tuesday.

The bill would replace a program that requires parents to work to receive welfare and increase the funds available to illegal immigrant parents because some who work “off the books” can’t verify their employment, according to the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS). Any illegal immigrant with a child born in the U.S. would be able to apply for aid through the program.

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Commentary: New Study Vindicates States that Canceled Expanded Unemployment Welfare Early

Arizona Sun Times Staff

Debate over the welfare state is once again making headlines. On Monday, the expanded unemployment welfare system was finally allowed to expire after more than a year. Originally created as a “short-term” measure authorized for a few months in March 2020 then repeatedly extended, these benefits paid many of the unemployed more than their former jobs, with benefits reaching up to $25/hour in dozens of states.

Dozens of Republican-led states chose to end the benefits early. This week’s termination of enhanced benefits was in the Democrat-run states that maintained the expanded payouts, and with their lapse, the debate over whether these benefits were disincentivizing work was reignited.

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While Pennsylvania Democrats Want to Increase Welfare Payments, Some Experts Urge Focus on Bigger Picture

Bradley Vasoli

Democrats in the Pennsylvania General Assembly hope to increase monthly welfare benefits in Pennsylvania, reasoning that payments under the federally funded Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program have stayed flat since the 1990s, falling well behind inflation. 

Legislation being drafted by state Sen. Katie Muth (D-PA-Royersford) and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D-PA-Philadelphia) would increase Pennsylvania’s TANF benefits, which average $403 per month for a family of three in most counties.

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